US1617538A - Road grader - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 1S, 1927 R T, MQWBRAY ROAD GRADER 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Deo. 4. 1925.

j?. Z. Mowbray Strom Feb. 15, 1927 R. T MOWBRAY ROAD GRADER Filed Dec. 4. 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I?. T. Mawray my auxiliary device.

Patented Feb. l5, 1927.

ROBERT T. MOW'BRAY, OF WATERLOO, IOWA.

ROAD GRADER.

Application filed December Ll, 1925.

My invention relates to improvements in road grading apparatus, and the object of my improvement is to associate with the blade of such a device cooperating mechanism adapted and mounted relative to the blade to prevent sticking of soil thereon and to assist in the conveyance of the excavated soil to one end of the blade for deposit.

This object I have accomplished by the means which are hereinafter described and claimed, and which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. l is a perspective side elevation of4 a road grading machine whose blade is equipped with Fig. 2 is a. top plan of the frame of such a machine and one pair of traveling wheels only, with the blade and its adjusting means and supports, and my auxiliary device mounted upon the blade and' driven by power transmission mechanism connected operatively between it and one of the traveling wheels. Fig. 3 is a rear elevation, on a larger scale, of said blade and my said device operatively mounted thereon, with certain of the elements of the power transmission device connected thereto. Figfil is a detail fragmentary view of part of the driving sprocket, its chain, and the endless slatted apron mounted upon the chain-links.

While my auxiliary soil handling device may be mounted in a similar way upon any description of soil excavating or scraping blades as employed in road or ditch work, whether leveling, cutting and delivering or filling, it is here illustrated and particularly employed as a part of the mechanism of a road grading machine, useful therein for all the varied functions of the machine.

Fig. l shows a typical machine of this class. It possesses a raised metallic frame of skeleton type 5st mounted on pivoted forward wheels and having rear traveling wheels 52 rotatably mounted on axle-spindles as usual. The machine may be propelled by means of a tractor not shown, and has the necessary connections for a freely movable and adjustable blade l, with devices for the adjustment thereof, or the lifting or lowering or tilting thereof, not particularly described here, being well known to those skilled in the art.

The blade l is of the kind which is shallowly troughed `forwardly longitudinally, and I have removed therefrom its middle portion longitudinally in such wise as to leave an elongated rectangular opening 2 Serial No. 73,236.

somewhat nearer its upper edge than its lower, the latter and exposed part suilicing to fulfill the usual purposes of the blade in scraping and excavatingwith its lower longitudinal advanced cutting edge.

The blade l may be swung around to present either vertical cut-ting edge at its ends as the advancing end, for use in excavating soil, particularly when the blade is adjusted in its longitudinal inclination to the soil so as to cut and excavate soil at one side of the machine, as in ditching operations. lt will be noticed that a relatively wide surface area is provided at the ends of the blade to carry the excavated soil thrown up by the advancing cutting end of the blade and deliver it upon the full width vertically of the travelling apron in the rear, the latter carrying the soil rearwardly, and upwardly also, according to the inclination of the blade. In Fig. 3, at the left hand end of the blade and said apron, a pair of adjustable connections are shown between the blade and the apron shaft. at that end, comprising an angle plate fastened on the blade n each case, whose flange is apertured to receive the threaded stem of a bolt which also traverses a flange on another angle plate carried by said shaft, and a nut on the said stem is used to adjust the two angle plates together to thus keep the apron taut longitudinally.

This blade l is mounted for rearwardly tilting adjustments on bolts 34 traversing depending heavy shanks 33 whose upper ends are lixed to opposite parts of a large horizontal gear 32. The gear 32 is rotatably mounted upon divergent rigidly connected arms 3l whose forward ends are pivotally mounted in the frame with connection to the tongue 56 whereby laterally swinging movements of the tongue in changing direction of the machine is communicated to the gear 32 and also to the blade l to keep the latter in the desired angular relation to the way traversed.

As shown in Fig. l, links 57 may be connected to the arms 31 and to cranks 58 on a shaft 59, the latter rotated by hand-wheels to thus lift or lower the arms and blade or to tilt them laterally.

A short vertically disposed rotary shaft 13 back of one end of the blade l and across the opening 2 has its ends rotatably mounted in longitudinally adjustable bearing-boxes con nected to the blade, and idler shafts 12 are arranged at equal distances apart across said opening with their ends rotatable in bearingboxes 9 secured by adjusting-nuts and bolts 11 so that the boxes may be adjusted to and from the blade as found necessary.

Upon all the shafts 13 and 12 inalinement are sprockets 14 and 8 respectively of like size and spaced apart on the shafts and from the ends thereof. These sprockets carry sprocket-chains 4 meshed with the teeth thereof, and each chaincarries anend part of a transversely slatted endless belt or traveling apron made up of relatively narrow overlapping slats 3 which may-beef any desired cross sectional shape. Each slat carries a spaced pairof apertured lugs which are pivotally connected by pintles to apertured bosses 6 on opposite outer edges of opposite outer links 4.

The endless slatted apron is to beso ,positioned that its forward reach stan s within the opening 2te virtually continue the vfoiivard surface of the blade thereby, although theface of theapron is substantially flat instead of partaking of the curvilinear troughing of the blade. The shaft 13 is the driving shaft for theapron and is to berotated usuallyto carry the'forward reach of the apron `to the left of the machine. The shaft 13 may be rotated by any desired kind of power transmission device and motive power, and l do not wish to be specifically limited to those devices shown, which are merely illustrative.

`As comparativelylittle power-is necessary to drive this apron, a traveling wheel 52 may be employed to supply the motive power. ln this event,-a gear-wheel 51 may be concentrically mounted rigidly upon the wheel spokes, in mesh 'with a pinion 50 on the-outer end of `a shaft 48 supported in a bearing `arm 49.

The other en'd of the shaft 48 may be supported in a bearing' in a bracket fixed on the frame body 54' and hasan end bevel-gear '47 in mesh'with another bevel-pinion 46 on a shortr longitudinal shaft-section rotatableV in another bearing on said bracket. A universal-joint 43 connects the shaft section mentioned with a shaft-section 42 positioned medially longitudinally within'said frame 54 and which is slidably non-rotatably mounted in a tubular shaft-section 39. The sections 42 and V39 maybe connected as shown by a short spline 41 traversing a longitudinal slot 40 in the section 39. The forward end of the section 39 has a universal joint connection 38 with a short section 37 rotatable in a bearing 36 fixed upon the arms 31 and carry-ing an end bevel-pinion 35 in vmesh with a bevelgear 30 on a vertical shaft 28 mounted in a bearing body 29 supported across the Aarms 31. On the lower end of the shaft 28 is loosely mounted a bearing body 27 g of angular form whose lower depending end has a bearing to loosely receive an end of a short shaftsection 26. A bevel-pinion 25 is fined on the lower end of the vertical shaft 28 and in remesa mesh with. a bevel-gear 24 fixed on the shaft 26. The ,shaft 26 has a vuniversal-joint connection at 23 with a tubular shaft-section 2O which slidably non-rotatably seats part of a shaft-section 19-by a lslot and spline connection 21-22 like the other one mentioned above. rlhe shaft-section 19 has a universaljoint connection 1S with a short shaft-section mounted in aibearing 17 fixed on the blade 1 andhaving an'end bevel-.pinion 16 in mesh wlthfa bevel-gear 15 fixed on the upper end of saifdapron driving-shaftl. On all the shafts 13-12 are annular fillets 1() which loosely engage the abutting ends of the slats 3 ofthe apron to keep theapron supported without sagging or displacements while in motion.`

It-will bessen-that provision for unlimited flexibility hasbeen made in thepower transmission device above described, in order to positively drive the apron 3, while allowing theI blade to 'be adjusted in :position relative to the machine 'frame in any way necessary workof the-blade 'and more especially to `pileup in front of the blade a large mound lof soil which will'fnot'slide along the obstructed blade for delivery to an end' thereof.

This furthermore createssuch an increase in the resistance tofforwardprogress of the machine as to require the useof a tractor of maximum power to overcome such resistance. Themovable 'apron 3 receives thereon the excavated soil andipositively transports it to the delivery end of the blade,.preventing sticking of the soll or mounding thereof before the blade. An even and minimum power supply is therefore all that is required of the tractor, or yof the driving means for the apron, so that a lightertractor may be used, with consequent great economy of` plant and operation expense, and expedition in the work performed.

Having described my invention, what l claim as new, and desire to secure by LettersPatent, is:

1. In a machine of the character described, a medially longitudinally apertured blade having wide end parts with cutting edges, a lower cutting edge, and an endlessapron whose forward Areach is movable-within the Vaperture ofthe blade, substantially continuing its forward surface to propel accumulated soil to a delivery end of the blade.

2. In a machine of the character described,

.Tse

an end and bottom cutting blade having a longitudinal aperture, an endless apron mounted in said aperture to have its forward reach substantially alined With the fou Ward surface of the blade, and means for tilting said blade and apron in any direction adjustably including the lifting and lowering of the blade.

3. In a machine of the character described, an elongated blade having a medial longitudinal aperture between end edges of the blade and above a bottom edge thereof, shafts rotatably mounted on the rear face of said blade to cross said aperture at the ends and intermediately of the ends thereof, one shaft being positively rotated the other shafts being idly mounted, sprocket-wheels fixed on opposite parts of said shafts spaced from their ends, sprocket-chains around and meshed With said sprocket-wheels, slats crossing said pair of chains to provide an endless apron and roekably connected to links thereof, and annular fillets on the ends of said shafts closely abutting upon the ends of said slats to limit endwise movements of the slats and keep the apron taut along said blade aperture with the front face of the front reach of the apron in substantial alinemeut with the front face of the blade.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature.

ROBERT T. MOIVBRAY.

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